Abstract
Individual phenotypic characteristics of many species are influenced by non-genetic maternal effects. Female birds can influence the development of their offspring before birth via the yolk steroid content of their eggs. We investigated this prenatal maternal effect by analysing the influence of laying females' social environment on their eggs' hormonal content and on their offspring's development. Social instability was applied to groups of laying Japanese quail females. We evaluated the impact of this procedure on laying females, on yolk steroid levels and on the general development of chicks. Agonistic interactions were more frequent between females kept in an unstable social environment (unstable females) than between females kept in a stable social environment (stable females). Testosterone concentrations were higher in unstable females' eggs than in those of stable females. Unstable females' chicks hatched later and developed more slowly during their first weeks of life than those of stable females. The emotional reactivity of unstable females' chicks was higher than that of stable females' chicks. In conclusion, our study showed that social instability applied to laying females affected, in a non-genetic way, their offspring's development, thus stressing the fact that females' living conditions during laying can have transgenerational effects.
Highlights
Variations among individual phenotypes come from the genetic background of individuals, and from influences of various nongenetic factors occurring during their development
In wild spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta), the cubs of dominant females show higher rates of aggression and mounting behaviour than the cubs of subordinate females [15]. These behavioural differences may be linked to differences in plasmatic testosterone levels between dominant and subordinate females, testosterone levels during late gestation being higher in dominant than in subordinate females [15]
Plasmatic corticosterone levels tended to be higher in UNS females than in S females (respectively, 2.9560.43 ng/ml (N = 20) and 2.2060.59 ng/ml (N = 10); U = 61, p = 0.086)
Summary
Variations among individual phenotypes come from the genetic background of individuals, and from influences of various nongenetic factors occurring during their development. Changes in females’ social environment (due to social instability, crowding, agonistic social encounters) during pregnancy can increase their offspring’s emotional reactivity, impair their learning abilities and alter their social, sexual and maternal behaviours [12,13,14]. These effects on offspring are thought to be mediated by modifications of glucocorticoid and androgen plasmatic concentrations in pregnant females [13,16,17]
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